564
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT
Opioid Receptors in Psoriatic Skin: Relationship with Itch
Piotr KUPCZYK 1 , Adam REICH 2 , Marcin HOŁYSZ 3 , Mariusz GAJDA 4 , Edyta WYSOKIŃSKA 5 , Anna KOBUSZEWSKA 2 , Dmitry
NEVOZHAY 6,7 , Beata NOWAKOWSKA †1,8 , Leon STRZĄDAŁA 5 , Paweł Piotr JAGODZIŃSKI 3 and Jacek C. SZEPIETOWSKI 2
1
Laboratory of Immunogenetic and Tissues Immunology, Department of Clinical Immunology, 5 Laboratory of Tumor Molecular Immunobiology,
Department of Experimental Oncology and 8 Laboratory of Tissues Immunology, Ludwik Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental
Therapy, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2 Department of Dermatology, Venerology and Allergology, Silesian Piast Wroclaw Medical University,
Wroclaw, 3 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Karol Marcinkowski Medical University of Poznan, Poznan, 4 Department of
Histology, Medical College, Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland, 6 School of Biomedicine, Far Eastern Medical Center, Far Eastern Federal
University, Vladivostok, Russia, and 7 Department of Immunology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, The University of Texas, Houston, TX, USA
Psoriasis is an inflammatory immunogenetic skin di-
sease, often accompanied by itch. Opioid receptors
are known regulators of itch sensation in the central
nervous system. In the brain, μ-opioid receptors may
potentiate itch, while activation of κ-opioid receptors
may reduce or even alleviate itch; however, the role
of opioid receptors in itch perception in the skin is
poorl